Gaelic given a boost in Lochaber

[Innes Munro – Presenter] Lochaber Gaelic Primary School has already given the Gaelic language a boost in the area, according to the Head Teacher. John Joseph MacNeil was speaking less than 4 months since the new school opened in Caol, Fort William. An open day was held in the school at the weekend and our reporter, Andreas Wolff, went to see it.

[Andreas Wolff – Reporter] It wasn’t the school bell that was ringing in Lochaber Gaelic Primary School at the weekend, although it was open.

[John Joseph MacNeil] Since we began in August, we now have a Gaelic Parent & Child Group, we have our playgroup, Cròileagan Grianach, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and also there’s the nursery and the primary school itself. And we’ve also been very lucky that we’ve had adults coming in to our Gaelic classes.

[Andreas Wolff – Reporter] An open day was held at Lochaber Gaelic Primary School at the weekend and they have 70 pupils attending at the moment. But they tell me that there’s room for more.

[Andreas Wolff – Reporter] There was a Gaelic medium unit but what is good about the new school?

[Child 1] I go to shinty, football and sports club on a Saturday.

[Child 2] There’s a big choice and lots of iPads and laptops.

[Andreas Wolff – Reporter] This school has a lot of new facilities, but some Gaelic groups working in the area use it too.

[Vicky MacLean] It’ll be easier in terms of projects we’re working on. It’ll make a difference if we’re working on a project together and things like that and its good just to be a part of the school and I think it’s really good for us to be here too.

[Katrina MacLean] I think it’s a great thing to be within a Gaelic community. It’s not just a school but a community.

[John Joseph MacNeil] Our pupils speak in Gaelic all the time now, they are immersed in it and this is what we envisage now with Gaelic medium education. There’s a big difference and the pupils themselves feel like they are part of a community, which isn’t so big when you’re in a department. They have a community, a full-time Gaelic community and different things available to them, concerts and events which take place in the school, because they have Gaelic.

Caol a' Ghearastain - Caol, Fort William

glag na sgoile - school bell

ionad Gàidhlig - Gaelic medium unit

Gleann Fhionnainn - Glenfinnan

Baile a’ Chaolais - Ballachulish

Drochaid Ruaidh - Roybridge

CuideachadhHow to use this site

Tha Learn Gaelic le An Là ag amas air luchd-ionnsachaidh na Gàidhlig a tha, le beagan misneachd, deiseil airson ceum air adhart a ghabhail. Tha an t-susbaint freagarrach dhan h-uile neach-ionnsachaidh, ach bidh e nas cuideachaile do dhaoine a tha seachad air an ìre Tòiseachaidh.Learn Gaelic with An Là is aimed at learners who have already gained some confidence in Gaelic and want to take their learning to the next level. The material is suitable for all learners, but those who have progressed beyond the Beginner level will find this section particularly useful.

Bidh sinn a’ cur sgeulachdan bhon phrògram BBC An Là beò gach seachdain, le tar-sgrìobhadh Gàidhlig is eadar-theangachadh Beurla. Bidh dath an teacsa ag atharrachadh nuair a thèid facal a chluich. ‘S urrainnear cliogadh air facal sònraichte agus cluichidh am bhidio bhon sin a-mach. Dh’fhaodadh gum biodh seo cuideachail dha luchd-ionnsachaidh airson fuaimneachadh a dhearbhadh. Stories from the BBC ALBA Gaelic news programme "An Là" are uploaded on a weekly basis, with a Gaelic transcript and an English translation. As each Gaelic word is spoken, the accompanying text changes colour. Individual words can be selected with a simple click and the video will play from that point onwards. Learners may find this useful for checking pronunciation.

Bidh gach paragraf Gàidhlig a’ gluasad ri linn na h-aithris, ach faodar cuideachd na bàraichean-sgrolaidh a ghluasad gu earrann shònraichte den aithris.Each Gaelic paragraph automatically scrolls in conjunction with the news report, but the manual scrolling bars can also be used to move the text to a particular section of the report.

Chithear an tar-sgrìobhadh Gàidhlig anns a’ chiad dol a-mach. Ach, gheibhear eadar-theangachadh Beurla den tar-sgrìobhadh le bhith a’ taghadh Beurla no Gàidhlig agus Beurla.The Gaelic transcript is shown by default. However, you can see a translation of the transcript by selecting the English or Gaelic and English tabs.

Tha briathrachas cuideachd ri fhaotainn, le faidhlichean fuaim Gàidhlig na chois. Tha a’ bhriathrachas air a thaghadh bhon aithris fhèin, le measgachadh leithid ainmean-àite, briathrachas naidheachd, gnathasan-cainnt is abairtean. Key vocabulary is also provided, with accompanying Gaelic audio. This is a selected from the vocabulary contained in the news report and may include a selection of place names, news terminology, useful colloquialisms and phrases.

Gheibhear an làraich seo air tablaidean is fònaichean-làimhe ach, a chionn ‘s gur e bhidiothan làn-sgrion a-mhàin a sheallas iPhone, bithear a’ cluich faidhle-fuaim seach bhidio.The site should work on mobile devices, but since iPhones will only show video full-screen and hide the transcript, we play an audio file instead of the video.